Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 15:41, 24 December 2024

Sebastian Gorka
Gorka in 2021
Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism
Designate
Assumed office January 20, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Personal details
Born	Sebastian Lukács Gorka (1970-10-22) October 22, 1970 (age 54) London, England
Citizenship	British Hungarian United States (since 2012)
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Katharine Cornell (m. 1996)
Children	2
Education	St Benedict's School, Ealing
Alma mater	Heythrop College, University of London (BA) Corvinus University (MA, PhD)
Website	www.sebgorka.com

Sebastian Lukács Gorka (Hungarian: Gorka Sebestyén Lukács; born October 22, 1970) is a British-Hungarian-American media host and commentator, currently affiliated with Salem Radio Network and NewsMax TV, and a former United States government official. He served in the first Trump administration as a deputy assistant to the president for seven months, from January until August 2017.

Gorka was born in the United Kingdom to Hungarian parents, lived in Hungary from 1992 to 2008, and in 2012 became a naturalized American citizen. Gorka has written several books and for a variety of publications, is politically conservative and has ties to the alt-right, though he rejects the term and has condemned the alt-right, calling it "bogus" and "a new label for nationalists or irredentist bigots".

During his time in the first Trump administration, Gorka gave a series of combative interviews with the press in which he defended the administration's positions on national security and foreign policy. Various national security scholars in academic and policymaking circles have characterized Gorka as fringe. Some critics have challenged his academic credentials, his views on Islam and radicalization, and his motives for identifying with the Order of Vitéz and supporting Magyar Gárda, a paramilitary organization banned by the European Union.

In November 2024, Gorka was named to become deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism in the second Trump administration.

Early life and education

Gorka was born in London to Zsuzsa and Pál Gorka. His parents had fled to the United Kingdom from Hungary after the failed anti-Soviet 1956 uprising and became naturalised British citizens on February 25, 1963. He attended St Benedict's School in west London, and received a lower second-class honours (2:2) B.A. degree in philosophy and theology from Heythrop College, a constituent college of the University of London.

While at university, Gorka joined the British Territorial Army as a volunteer (typically committing to a weekend a month and an annual two-week camp), serving over a period of three years in the 22 Intelligence Company of the Intelligence and Security Group (Volunteers), an interrogation unit with a NATO role specializing in Russian language training and supporting 1 (BR) Corps until the latter was disbanded in 1992 at the end of the Cold War.

In 1992, Gorka moved to Hungary, where he worked for the Hungarian Ministry of Defence while studying for a master's degree in international relations and diplomacy at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration, now known as the Corvinus University, which he completed in 1997. In 1997, he was a Partnership for Peace International research fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome.

In 1998, Gorka served as an adviser to Viktor Orbán. In 2002, he entered the political science doctoral program at Corvinus University where he obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2007. Gorka is a naturalized American citizen.

Career

Gorka worked in the Hungarian Ministry of Defense during the prime ministership of József Antall.

Following the September 11 attacks, Gorka became a public figure in Hungary as a television counterterrorism expert. This led to his being asked in 2002 to serve as an official expert on the parliamentary investigatory committee created to uncover the Communist background and alleged counterespionage of the new Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy. Gorka failed to obtain the necessary security clearance from the National Security Office to serve on the committee, apparently because he was widely regarded as a spy working for British counterintelligence. Gorka defended himself against the charge by saying his service in the British army was merely as a uniformed member of its counterterrorism unit, tasked with assessing threats from groups such as the IRA.

In 2004, Gorka became an adjunct to the faculty of the new US initiative for the Program for Terrorism and Security Studies (PTSS), a Defense Department-funded program based in the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. At the same time Gorka became an adjunct to USSOCOM's Joint Special Operations University, MacDill Air Force Base. He and his family relocated to the United States in 2008. He was hired as administrative dean at the National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington D.C. Two years later, he began to lecture part-time for the ASD(SO/LIC)-funded Masters Program in Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism as part of the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program but remained in a largely administrative role. Between 2009 and 2011 Gorka wrote for the Hudson Institute of New York (now Gatestone Institute). Between 2011 and 2013, Gorka was an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. In 2014 Gorka assumed the privately endowed Major General Matthew C. Horner Distinguished Chair of Military Theory at the Marine Corps University Foundation. From 2014 to 2016, Gorka was an editor for national security affairs for Breitbart News, where he worked for Steve Bannon. In August 2016, he joined The Institute of World Politics, a private institution, on a full-time basis as Professor of Strategy and Irregular Warfare and Vice President for National Security Support. He is on the advisory board of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA).

Trump administration

In January 2017, Gorka was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Strategist in the Trump White House. He was a member of a White House team known as the Strategic Initiatives Group, which was set up by White House advisors Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. The Strategic Initiatives Group never got off the ground, and Gorka failed to obtain the security clearance necessary for work on national security issues. Questions were raised about Gorka's precise roles and duties within the Trump administration.

In April 2017, The Washington Examiner reported that the Trump administration was planning to move Gorka to a role outside the White House; however, in May 2017 The Daily Beast reported that Trump and Bannon had intervened to retain Gorka in his position.

On August 25, 2017, Gorka's White House tenure ended, one week after Bannon's departure. Gorka stated that he had resigned because White House officials were "undermining" the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Platform. The White House disputed his claim that he resigned, but confirmed he was no longer employed there and did not have further access to the White House grounds. "Sebastian Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he no longer works at the White House", a White House official told Politico on August 25, 2017.

In July 2020, the White House announced that Trump would appoint Gorka as a member of the 14-member National Security Education Board. The board addressees "the national need for experts in critical languages and regions" by awarding scholarships and fellowships to students, and grants to colleges and universities.

Media

He was a Fox News contributor from 2017 to 2019. On March 3, 2019, however, Mediaite reported that Fox News had confirmed that Gorka was no longer affiliated with the network.

On January 1, 2019, he began hosting America First with Sebastian Gorka, replacing Michael Medved on Salem Radio from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

In September 2019, Gorka became a spokesman for Relief Factor, a fish oil supplement.

In April 2021, Gorka was permanently banned from YouTube for repeatedly violating the company's policy on spreading misinformation related to the 2020 presidential election. Gorka's America First radio show had previously been banned from the site in 2019 for copyright violations, specifically due to Gorka's refusal to stop playing the Imagine Dragons song "Radioactive" in his intro segment.

In 2021, Gorka began hosting a weekend program called The Gorka Reality Check on NewsMax TV.

Political views

Gorka has been described as conservative but others described him as being far-right.

In August 2017 Gorka opposed the Trump administration's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. In April 2018 Gorka defended the Trump administration intervention in Syria. Gorka supports gun rights and capital punishment. He opposes illegal immigration and gay marriage.

Views on Islam

Gorka's view on Islam and radicalization have drawn controversy. His views have been described as Islamophobic by scholars, journalists, and US officials, and he has been considered a part of the counter-jihad movement. Gorka sees Islamic terrorism as essentially ideologically motivated and rooted in a totalitarian religious mindset. In his view, violence is a "fundamental" part of Islam, and he rejects other scholars' assessments that Islamic militancy stems primarily from poverty, poor governance, and war. He vigorously backed President Trump's two executive orders that temporarily banned entry to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries, and Trump's usage of the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism."

According to Washington Post reporter Greg Jaffe, "Most counterterrorism experts dismiss Gorka's ideas as a dangerous oversimplification that could alienate Muslim allies and boost support for terrorist groups ... Religious scholars are equally withering." Additionally, according to Jaffe, Gorka's views "signal a radical break" from the discourse "defined by the city's Republican and Democratic foreign policy elite" of the last 16 years. For Gorka, "the terrorism problem has nothing to do with repression, alienation, torture, tribalism, poverty, or America's foreign policy blunders and a messy and complex Middle East", but is rooted in Islam and the "martial parts" of the Koran.

In February 2017, former State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Daniel Benjamin and former National Security Council Senior Director Steven Simon took issue with Gorka's claim that the Obama and George W. Bush administrations had failed to understand the importance of ideology and they gave examples of how government analysts "going back nearly 40 years ha examined ideology's role in Islamic militancy." They argued that by rejecting the role of "poor governance, repression, poverty and war" and failing to realize that "religious doctrine is not their sole or even primary driver", Gorka subscribed to an Islamophobic approach of seeing "Islam as the problem, rather than the uses to which Islam has been put by violent extremists."

Others have noted additional nuance in Gorka's views about Islam. Freelance investigative journalist Richard Miniter attests that Gorka "has been emphatic that the enemy is not Islam" and that "there is an ideological war among Muslims, a small fraction of which side with al Qaeda and its ilk against the vast majority of Muslims, who are among the terrorists' most numerous victims." Republican Andrew C. McCarthy says "The notion that he is racist, 'Islamophobic' (as opposed to anti-jihadist), or uninformed is absurd." McCarthy, a columnist for the National Review, describes Gorka's first book Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War as a good "primer on the Islamic doctrinal and scholarly roots of jihadist terror," particularly "takfiri jihad" targeting fellow Muslims. Gorka believes that the jihadi threat is an ideological one that has to be addressed in manners similar to past totalitarian ideologies of the Cold War. According to him, it is crucial to empower Muslim allies, as this is a battle within Islam.

Credentials

Shortly after taking a position in the Trump administration in early 2017, Gorka drew criticism from multiple commentators in academia and politics, who characterized him as a fringe figure in academic and policy-making circles. Business Insider politics editor Pamela Engel has described Gorka as being "widely disdained within his own field."

A number of academics and policymakers questioned Gorka's knowledge of foreign policy issues, his academic credentials, and his professional behavior. Andrew Reynolds, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, questioned the validity of Gorka's doctoral degree, noting discrepancies between how doctorates are normally awarded and how Gorka's was awarded. Reynolds said that the evaluation of each referee on Gorka's PhD committee was "a page of generalized comments – completely at odds with the detailed substantive and methodological evaluations that I've seen at every Ph.D defence I've been on over the last twenty years." According to Reynolds, at least two of the three referees had only Bachelor of Arts degrees, and one of the referees had published with Gorka previously, in violation of the academic expectation that reviewers have no personal or other form of interest in the success of a candidate's thesis. Georgetown University associate professor Daniel Nexon reviewed Gorka's Ph.D. thesis, describing it as "inept" and saying "It does not deploy evidence that would satisfy the most basic methodological requirements for a PhD in the US". Nexon ran Gorka's thesis text through plagiarism software, finding that portions of it were "repurposed", and concluded that he "might as well have mail-ordered his Ph.D.".

The journal Terrorism and Political Violence had never used Gorka as a reviewer because, according to the associate editor, he "is not considered a terrorism expert by the academic or policy community." In August 2017, Gorka falsely asserted that the Obama administration "invented" the term "lone-wolf terrorism", when the term actually had been widely used in the academic literature, media, and by governments long before that. Responding to his academic critics, Gorka said that there was an ongoing "proxy war" and that others were attacking him as a way to attack Trump.

In February 2017, Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, voiced his reservations about Gorka influencing policy in the White House, saying, "Gorka does not have much of a reputation in serious academic or policymaking circles. He has never published any scholarship of significance and his views on Islam and U.S. national security are extreme even by Washington standards. His only real 'qualification' was his prior association with Breitbart News, which would be a demerit in any other administration."

According to BuzzFeed, Gorka was unable to obtain a security clearance to work in the Hungarian Parliament.

The Historical Order of Vitéz

This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Misplaced Pages's inclusion policy. (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Order of Vitéz was a Hungarian order of merit founded in 1920 to reward heroic soldiers. It entitled the bearer to the title vitéz (literally: "valiant"), as well as a grant of land. The title was inheritable, passing from father to son. Like all such orders in Hungary, it was disbanded at the end of World War II. The U.S. State Department lists the Order of Vitéz among organizations that were "under the direction of the Nazi government of Germany" during World War II. Since then, a number of private associations have worked to restore the order. The most notable of these is the Historical Order of Vitéz. This Order granted Gorka's father, Paul Gorka, their title in 1979 in recognition of his resistance to the post-war Soviet occupation of Hungary.

Paul Gorka's memoir Budapest elárulva ("Budapest betrayed") identifies him on its cover as "v. Gorka Pál", where the "v" is an abbreviation for the title vitéz. Sebastian Gorka has adopted the title in this way in a number of his publications, notably his PhD thesis and his writings for the Gatestone Institute. He also used the title in his June 2011 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.

In 2017, Gorka appeared on Fox News on the evening of the U.S. presidential inauguration wearing a badge, tunic, and ring of the Order of Vitéz. This gave rise to claims that Gorka himself is a Nazi sympathizer. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote in April 2017 that Gorka "has been accused of having links to far-right groups in Europe", and The Guardian reported that the Order of Vitez, whose medal Gorka wore to Donald Trump's inaugural ball, "has been linked by some to Nazi colluders".

Gorka's father, Paul, was never a member of the original order and received a "Vitéz" medal from Hungarian exiles "for his resistance to dictatorship" in 1979. Gorka himself stated that he wears this medal in remembrance of his father, who was awarded the decoration for his efforts to create an anti-communist, pro-democracy organization at the university he attended in Hungary. Robert Kerepeszki, a Hungarian expert on the Order of Vitéz, has confirmed that there were ruptures in the organization of the Order of Vitéz on the question of Nazism during the war, many of them died fighting against Hungarian Nazi sympathizers, and Gorka's medal had nothing to do with the war period, but was awarded "for his resistance to dictatorship". The tunic that Gorka wore was just a traditional Hungarian jacket, known as a bocskai.

People who have worked with Gorka have said that he is not antisemitic. In February 2017 Congressman and Israel Allies Caucus Co-chair Trent Franks called Gorka "the staunchest friend of Israel and the Jewish people". The Forward's Nathan Guttman responded to Franks' remarks with a statement that co-chair Franks "did not offer any evidence to refute the reports on Gorka's ties with the Hungarian groups", referring to nationalist protest group Hungarian National Committee and political party New Democratic Coalition, which Gorka co-founded with former members of the far-right Jobbik party after growing disenchanted with Viktor Orbán.

Tibor Navracsics, an EU commissioner, member of the Hungarian Fidesz political party and former colleague of Gorka, also defended Gorka, stating that Gorka "has spent his life battling fascists and anti-Semites of all sorts".

Writing in The Jerusalem Post, Bruce Abramson and Jeff Ballabon argue that the Forward's articles are partisan attacks with no merit. Sarah N. Stern, of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, has called Gorka "a true friend to Israel and the Jewish people", adding, "It is folly to 'cry wolf' at a time like this, when there are already too many wolves in the fold." Peter Beinart, writing in the Forward, says the evidence does not support the magazine's charges of antisemitism.

On March 16, 2017, leaders of one of two successor organisations of the Vitézi Rend stated that Gorka was an official member of the Historical Vitézi Rend faction, to which he is said to have taken a lifelong oath of loyalty. Gorka denied the allegations. The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, the National Jewish Democratic Council, and the Interfaith Alliance have called for Gorka's resignation over his ties to Hungarian far-right groups. The Anti-Defamation League has asked Gorka to disavow the Hungarian National Committee and the New Democratic Coalition.

Democratic Senators Ben Cardin, Dick Durbin, and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), requesting that DHS look into whether Gorka "illegally procured his citizenship" by omitting membership in Historical Vitézi Rend, which could have been grounds for keeping him out of the country.

On March 17, 2017, Gorka issued a statement in which he denied that he was a sworn member of Hungarian groups with Nazi past.

Support for the Hungarian Guard

Statements of support for Gorka, which have challenged the description of him as an antisemite, all predated a 2017 story that connected him with another extreme far-right anti-Semitic group. In a 2007 video, Gorka declared his support for the Magyar Gárda (Hungarian Guard), a paramilitary group described by various sources as neo-fascist and anti-Semitic. Gorka said that "If we look at the Swiss or Israeli example, when it is about a country, that is small and doesn't have a massive military, then a system can be based on a territorial defense ... In America, the state supports them, giving old arms ... After the disturbances of Hungary, last year, a need has risen" to supplement the official military "because the country's military is sick, and totally reflects the state of Hungarian society ... This country cannot defend itself." He also added, that "We support the establishment of the Hungarian Guard despite the personalities involved." The Guard was formally banned in Hungary in 2009, two years after Gorka left the country, and this decision was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights, due to its racist activities.

Personal life

Gorka married Pennsylvania native Katharine Fairfax Cornell on July 6, 1996, in St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Sopron, Hungary. Sebastian Gorka has two children. The couple founded the Institute for Transitional Democracy and International Security in Budapest, Hungary, in 2003.

Katharine Gorka has also been involved with the administration of Donald Trump, first serving on his transition team for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She then became a policy advisor at DHS on April 7, 2017. In the wake of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, her part at DHS, in defunding Life After Hate, a group which facilitates deradicalization, particularly of white supremacists, received attention.

Arrests

Gorka was detained on January 31, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington D.C. for attempting to board a plane with a 9 mm handgun in his luggage. The gun was confiscated by Transportation Security Administration officers and Gorka, after being detained and issued with a criminal summons, was permitted to board the plane. Gorka said that he had packed the carry-on bag without remembering that it contained a gun. A judge dismissed the charge on February 3, 2017, since he had stayed out of legal trouble for six months, in an arrangement agreed with the prosecutor.

In January 2018, BuzzFeed News and Hungarian website 444.hu reported that Hungarian police had issued an arrest warrant for Gorka for "firearm or ammunition abuse" on September 17, 2016. They noted that the warrant had been in effect for the entire period of Gorka's service at the White House during the Trump administration, and that the warrant remained in effect as of January 2018. Buzzfeed also reported that the warrant may have been issued for an event occurring as early as 2009. Gorka called the report fallacious, and told Newsweek he is contacting Hungarian authorities for clarification. By mid-February of that year, the arrest warrant had been removed from the website.

Books

• Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War (2016), Regnery Publishing
• Why We Fight: Defeating America's Enemies - With No Apologies (2018), Regnery Publishing
• The War For America's Soul (2019), Regnery Publishing

Explanatory notes

1. a bocskai is a dignified, military, traditional garment, ornately braided; a "nobleman's jacket."

References

1. ^ "People: Sebastian Lukacs Gorka". The Hill. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
2. ^ Crilley, Rob (March 19, 2017). "Donald Trump aide Sebastian Gorka denies claims he was sworn member of Hungarian group with Nazi past". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
3. ^ Karni, Annie & Dawsey, Josh (August 25, 2017). "White House aide Sebastian Gorka ousted from post". Politico. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
4. ^ "Sebastian Gorka to Launch Nationally Syndicated Radio Show with Salem Radio Network". AP News. November 8, 2018.
5. ^ "Sebastian Gorka No Longer a Fox News Contributor". The Hollywood Reporter. March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
6. ^ Balogh, Eva S. (February 2, 2017). "Sebastian L. von Gorka's encounter with the Hungarian National Security Office". Hungarian Spectrum. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017.
7. ^ Jaffe, Greg (February 20, 2017). "For a Trump adviser, an odyssey from the fringes of Washington to the center of power". Washington Post.
8. ^ Engel, Pamela (February 22, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka, Trump's combative new national security aide, is widely disdained within his own field". Business Insider. New York City: Axel Springer SE. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
9. Posner, Sarah (August 10, 2017). "Why is Sebastian Gorka still in the White House?". Washington Post. Washington DC: Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
10. Pugh, Tony (August 13, 2017). "Rights leaders demand Trump fire 'alt-right' hero Steve Bannon". McClatchy DC. Washington DC: The McClatchy Company. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
11. "Working for Trump, Media Attacks, and Europe's Immigration (Sebastian Gorka Pt. 1)". The Rubin Report. April 25, 2018. 29:24. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
12. Cameron, Chris (November 22, 2024). "Sebastian Gorka to Return to White House as Adviser". The New York Times.
13. ^ "Weddings; Katharine Cornell, Sebestyen Gorka". The New York Times. New York City. July 7, 1996. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
14. ^ "Sebastian Gorka". The Institute of World Politics. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
15. "No. 42982". The London Gazette. April 30, 1963. p. 3758.
16. ^ Sherlock, Ruth (April 1, 2017). "The most powerful Briton in America on what it's really like in Donald Trump's White House". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
17. "Sebastian L Gorka – May 24". Aiken Republic Club. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
18. "Gorka, Sebastian (Dr.)". International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT). Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
19. Weale, Adrian (March 5, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka and his distinguished military career". AdrianWeale.com. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
20. van der Bijl, Nick (2014). Sharing the Secret: The History of the Intelligence Corps 1940-2010. Pen and Sword. pp. 257–8. ISBN 978-1848844131. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
21. ^ Merlan, Anna (April 6, 2017). "What Did Sebastian Gorka Do in the British Army?". Jezebel. New York City: Univision Communications. Archived from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
22. "Records request regarding 22 Company of the Territorial Army - a Freedom of Information request to Ministry of Defence". WhatDoTheyKnow. March 10, 2017.
23. Csapó, Endre (February 15, 2007). "A Gorka-jelenség" [The Gorka phenomenon]. Hunsor (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on December 30, 2010.
24. Gorka, Sebestyén (1997). "Invocation of Article Five: Five Years On". NATO Review. NATO. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
25. ^ "Sebastian Gorka's road from Budapest to the White House". Hungarian Spectrum. January 31, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017.
26. ^ Gorka, Sebestyén L. v. (2007). Content and End-State-based Alteration in the Practice of Political Violence since the End of the Cold War: the difference between the terrorism of the Cold War and the terrorism of al Qaeda: the rise of the "transcendental terrorist (PDF) (Thesis). Corvinus University of Budapest. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
27. Tamkin, Emily (February 24, 2017). "Trump's controversial national security aide reportedly tied to far-right, anti-semitic group". Business Insider. New York City: Axel Springer SE. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
28. "Hungarian National Security Expert Sebastian Gorka has Joined Trump's White House". Hungary Today. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
29. Matild, Torkos (June 18, 2002). "Titkos ügynök a kormány élén" [Secret agent of government head]. MNO (Nemzet Lap és Könyvkiadó Kft.) (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on May 16, 2012.
30. LeBor, Adam (August 26, 2002). "Secret service past returns to haunt Hungary's leaders". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print Ltd. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
31. "Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program (CTFP)". Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
32. ^ "Writings by Sebastian L. v. Gorka". Gatestone Institute.
33. Kirkland, Allegra (February 3, 2017). "Breitbart Staffer Turned Trump Aide Is Posterboy For New Admin's Nationalism". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017.
34. Darcy, Oliver (January 24, 2017). "Breitbart national security editor and Fox News contributor expected to join Trump White House". Business Insider France. Paris, France: Prisma. Archived from the original on August 18, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
35. Phillips, Quinn (July 15, 2016). "Sebastian Gorka to join IWP faculty full-time this August". The Institute of World Politics. Washington DC. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016.
36. "Board of Advisors". The Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA). Retrieved June 3, 2016.
37. ^ Fortin, Jacey (February 17, 2017). "Who Is Sebastian Gorka? A Trump Adviser Comes Out of the Shadows". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
38. "Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka expected to leave White House, official says". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Associated Press. May 1, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
39. Drezner, Daniel W. (April 26, 2017). "I have a clarifying question for Dr. Sebastian Gorka". Washington Post. Washington DC: Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
40. Welker, Kristen. "Trump aide Sebastian Gorka may leave the White House". NBC News. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
41. Westwood, Sarah (April 30, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka to accept role outside White House". Washington Examiner.
42. Markay, Lachlan; Suebsaeng, Asawin; Wilson, Mark (May 5, 2017). "Trump and Bannon 'Personally Intervened' to Save Seb Gorka". The Daily Beast. New York City: IAC. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
43. Manchester, Julia (August 25, 2017). "Gorka resigns from White House". The Hill. Washington DC: Capitol Hill Publishing. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
44. "Gorka: I Resigned Because WH Officials Are Undermining MAGA Platform". Fox & Friends. August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017 – via Fox News Insider.
45. Easley, Jonathan (August 25, 2017). "White House disputes Gorka's claim that he resigned". The Hill. Washington DC: Capitol Hill Publishing. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
46. Blake, Andrew (August 29, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka, former Trump adviser, placed on White House 'Do Not Admit' list: Report". Washington Times. Washington DC: Operations Holdings. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
47. Hayes, Chris (August 17, 2017). "Exclusive: White House staff warned not to admit Gorka". All In with Chris Hayes. MSNBC.
48. Cole, Devan (July 14, 2020). "Trump to appoint Sebastian Gorka to the National Security Education Board". CNN. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
49. Cohen, Max (July 14, 2020). "Trump plans to appoint controversial former aide Sebastian Gorka to national security education position". Politico. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
50. Beavers, Olivia (July 14, 2020). "Trump taps Gorka for national security advisory board". The Hill. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
51. McLaughlin, Aidan (March 3, 2019). "Seb Gorka Out at Fox News, Berates Mediaite Editor Over Email: 'You Don't Have Any Friends'". Mediaite. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
52. "Sebastian Gorka confirms exit from Fox News after a wild CPAC speech where he compared Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Stalin and said she wanted to ban hamburgers". Business Insider. March 4, 2019.
53. Ecarma, Caleb (September 4, 2019). "Seb Gorka is Now a Spokesperson For Fish Oil Pill Company". Mediaite.
54. Boigon, Molly (April 12, 2021). "Former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka is now banned from YouTube". The Forward. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
55. ^ Patterson, Callie (April 12, 2021). "YouTube bans Sebastian Gorka's channel for repeated violations of 'presidential election integrity policy'". Washington Examiner. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via MSN.com.
56. Webb, Kevin (November 5, 2019). "YouTube banned a former White House advisor after he refused to stop playing an Imagine Dragons song in his videos". Business Insider. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
57. Engel, Pamela. "Sebastian Gorka, Trump's combative new national security aide, is widely disdained within his own field". Business Insider. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
58. Nexon, Daniel (March 17, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka May Be a Far-Right Nativist, but for Sure He's a Terrible Scholar". Foreign Policy. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
59. Petrizzo, Zachary (April 1, 2021). "Why hasn't Biden fired Sebastian Gorka from Trump-appointed education post?". Salon. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
60. "White House aide Sebastian Gorka ousted from post". Politico. August 25, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
61. Gorka, Sebastian (April 9, 2018). "Our fight in Syria is not the Iraq war". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
62. Weiss, Brennan. "Trump ally Sebastian Gorka said he never leaves the house without 2 pistols and a tourniquet — and Twitter lit up". Business Insider. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
63. "Seb Gorka Calls for Return of Death Penalty Firing Squads". Mediaite. September 14, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
64. Concha, Joe (February 5, 2019). "Gorka says subway murder proves illegal immigration 'is a national security threat'". The Hill. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
65. "'This is a war for our culture': Sebastian Gorka anguished by gay wedding on 'Arthur'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
66. Rozsa, Matthew (May 15, 2019). "Gorka denounces "Arthur" gay wedding". Salon. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
67. ^ Haberman, Maggie (April 30, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka Likely to Be Out of White House Role, Officials Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
68. "White House role of controversial adviser Sebastian Gorka is debated". Washington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
69. Haberman, Maggie; Stevens, Matt (August 25, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka Is Forced Out as White House Adviser, Officials Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
70. Choudhury, Cyra Akila & Beydoun, Khaled A., eds. (2020). Islamophobia and the Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 10.
71. el-Sayed el-Aswad. Countering Islamophobia in North America. Springer. p. 75.
72. Keefe, Patrick Radden (April 23, 2018). "McMaster and Commander". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
73. ^ Simon, Steven; Benjamin, Daniel (February 24, 2017). "The Islamophobic Huckster in the White House". The New York Times.
74. Beauchamp, Zack (February 13, 2017). "Trump's counter-jihad". Vox.
75. Singal, Jesse (February 23, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka Disagrees With His Own Government's Terrorism Statistics". New York Intelligencer.
76. Weingarten, Benjamin (March 2, 2017). "The left's next anti-Trump hit job targets counter-jihadist scholar". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017.
77. Nguyen, Tina (February 21, 2017). "5 Things to know about Sebastian Gorka, Trump's jihad whisperer". Vanity Fair.
78. Acosta, Jim; Bradner, Eric. "Sources: Sebastian Gorka to leave White House". CNN. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
79. Miniter, Richard (February 28, 2017). "Journalists Beware: Your War On Sebastian Gorka Is Only Hurting You". Forbes. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
80. ^ McCarthy, Andrew C. (March 1, 2017). "The Swamp Takes Aim at Seb Gorka". National Review. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
81. Engel, Pamela (March 4, 2017). "Experts previously on the fringes of the national-security community are now helping craft policy in the White House". Business Insider. New York City: Axel Springer SE. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
82. Harnden, Toby (March 5, 2017). "When the liberal media call, Trump sends in his Ealing rottweiler". The Sunday Times. London, England: News UK. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
83. ^
    • Welna, David (February 24, 2017). "Criticized By Peers, White House Counterterrorism Adviser Returns Fire". National Public Radio. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
    • Simon, Steven; Benjamin, Daniel (February 24, 2017). "The Islamophobic Huckster in the White House". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
    • Walt, Stephen M. (February 17, 2017). "Five Ways Donald Trump Is Wrong About Islam". Foreign Policy. Washington DC: The FP Group. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
    • Reynolds, Andrew (April 27, 2017). "Stop Calling Him 'Dr.': The Academic Fraud of Sebastian Gorka, Trump's Terrorism 'Expert'". Haaretz. Tel Aviv, Israel. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
    • Gambino, Lauren (August 11, 2017). "Donald Trump loyalists eager to back up his rhetoric on North Korea". The Guardian. London, England. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
    • Dreyfuss, Bob (August 10, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka, the West Wing's Phony Foreign-Policy Guru". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
84. Prothero, Mitch (April 27, 2017). "The Hungarian Rise And Fall Of Sebastian Gorka". BuzzFeed. New York City: Buzzfeed Entertainment. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
85. ^ Devine, Curt; Griffin, Drew; Bronstein, Scott (August 8, 2017). "Experts say Trump's deputy assistant is poorly qualified". CNN. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
86. ^ Ewing, Philip (August 25, 2017). "Counterterrorism Adviser Gorka Out Of White House Job". NPR.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
87. Engel, Pamela (August 12, 2017). "Richard Painter Demands Trump Fire Seb Gorka and Steve Bannon Over Charlottesville Violence". Mediaite. New York City: Abrams Media. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
88. • Boot, Max (February 21, 2017). "The Worst and the Dimmest". Foreign Policy. Washington DC: FP Media. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
    • "Perspective | Survival tips for Sebastian Gorka, PhD". Washington Post. Washington DC: Nash Holdings LLC. February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
    • Dixon, Daniel (March 17, 2017). "Dr. Sebastian Gorka May Be a Far-Right Nativist, But for Sure He's a Terrible Scholar". Foreign Policy. Washington DC: FP Media. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
89. Beauchamp, Zack (August 25, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka, Trump's most controversial national security aide, is out". Vox. Vox Media. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
90. Reynolds, Andrew (April 27, 2017). "Stop Calling Him 'Dr.': The Academic Fraud of Sebastian Gorka, Trump's Terrorism 'Expert'". Haaretz. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
91. Dreyfuss, Bob (August 10, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka, the West Wing's Phony Foreign-Policy Guru". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
92. Stein, Jeff (February 23, 2017). "Exclusive: Listen to Controversial White House Terrorism Adviser Sebastian Gorka's Angry Call to a Critic". Newsweek. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
93. "No, Obama didn't invent the term lone wolf". Politifact. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
94. Ferrari, Nick (April 27, 2017). "Does Trump Advisor Have Nazi Links? Nick Asks Him". Leading Britain's Conversation. London, England: Global. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
95. Engel, Pamela (February 22, 2017). "New national security aide is widely disdained within his own field". Business Insider. New York City: Axel Springer SE. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
96. Prothero, Mitch (April 26, 2017). "The Hungarian Rise And Fall Of Sebastian Gorka". Buzzfeed News. New York City: Buzzfeed Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
97. "Organizations Under the Direction of the Nazi Government of Germany". U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual and Handbook. November 18, 2015. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
98. v. Gorka, Sebestyén. "The Hungarian Uprising: Fifty Years On". Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies . Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
99. ^ Szigeti, Tom (February 17, 2017). "Hungarian Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka and the Order of Vitéz 'Controversy'". Hungary Today. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
100. ^ The Forward; Bayer, Lili & Cohler-Esses, Larry (March 18, 2017). "Elite Nazi-allied Order From Hungary Claims Trump Adviser Gorka Is a Sworn Member". Haaretz. Archived from the original on March 28, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
101. v. Gorka, Pál (1986). Budapest elárulva : egy volt politikai fogoly beszámolója hogyan árulták el a magyar ellenállási mozgalmat az oroszoknak. Oak-Tree Books. ISBN 9780948059094. Retrieved March 28, 2017 – via Stanford Universities Library.
102. "Top Trump aide wears medal of Hungarian Nazi collaborators". The Times of Israel. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
103. "Why Is Trump Adviser Wearing Medal of Nazi Collaborators?". LobeLog. February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
104. • Fortin, Jacey (February 17, 2017). "Who Is Sebastian Gorka? A Trump Adviser Comes Out of the Shadows". The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
     • Davies, Caroline (February 17, 2017). "'A fabulous press conference': who are Trump's British cheerleaders?". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
     • Fortin, Jacey (February 18, 2017). "Who is Sebastian Gorka? A Primer on the Trump Adviser". Boston Globe.
105. ^ Kentish, Bob (February 15, 2017). "Top Donald Trump aide defends wearing medal linked to Nazi sympathisers". The Independent. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
106. "Sebastian Gorka to leave White House amid accusations of links to far-right". The Guardian. May 1, 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
107. Blum, Ruthie (February 16, 2017). "Top Trump Aide: Despite Resignation of National Security Adviser, Administration Committed to Flynn's Staunch Stance on Iran". The Algemeiner. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017.
108. Borbás, Barna (February 17, 2017). "Hogyan NE fasisztázzunk?" [How NOT to libel someone fascist]. Heti Válasz (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
109. ^ Szigeti, Tom (February 17, 2017). "Hungarian Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka and the Order of Vitéz 'Controversy'". Hungary Today.
110. Cutcher, Alexandra J. (April 27, 2015). "Epilogue". Displacement, Identity, Belonging. Sense Publishers. p. 249. ISBN 9789463000703.
111. Neubauer, John; Borbála, Zsuzsanna, eds. (2009). The Exile and Return of Writers from East-Central Europe: A Compendium. Walter de Gruyter. p. 372. ISBN 9783110217735.
112. Franks, Trent (February 25, 2017). "Statement in Response to Media Attacks Against Dr. Sebastian Gorka". US Congress Media Center. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
113. Nathan, Guttman (February 25, 2017). "Republican Congressman Calls Sebastian Gorka An 'American Patriot' – Despite Anti-Semitic Ties". The Forward. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
114. Bayer, Lili (February 24, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Senior Trump Aide Forged Key Ties to Anti-Semitic Groups in Hungary". The Forward.
115. Navracsics, Tibor (February 27, 2017). "EU commissioner defends Trump aide against 'false' attacks". The Hill. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
116. Abramson, Bruce; Ballabon, Jeff (March 17, 2017). "The 'Forward' is dead wrong, Gorka is a Defender of Israel, Jews". The Jerusalem Post.
117. Stern, Sarah N. (March 21, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka: A True Friend to Israel and the Jewish People". The Algemeiner.
118. Beinart, Peter (March 22, 2017). "Who You Callin' Anti-Semite? Reserve The Term For The Worst Offenders". The Forward.
119. Leibovitz, Liel (March 16, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka Denies Reported Affiliations with Vitézi Rend". Tablet. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
120. Estepa, Jessica (March 16, 2017). "Organizations call for Sebastian Gorka's resignation for ties to far-right group". USA Today. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
121. The Forward (February 25, 2017). "ADL Urges Top Trump Aide With Ties to Hungary's Extreme Right to Disavow anti-Semitism". Haaretz. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
122. • "Democratic senators call for investigation into Trump aide Sebastian Gorka". USA Today. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
     • "EXCLUSIVE: Nazi-Allied Group Claims Top Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka As Sworn Member". The Forward. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
     • Greenwood, Max (March 16, 2017). "Dem rep asks White House for Sebastian Gorka's immigration papers". The Hill. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
123. ^ Bayer, Lili (April 3, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Controversial Trump Aide Sebastian Gorka Backed Violent Anti-Semitic Militia". The Forward. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
124. Tina, Nguyen (March 2017). "Far right Trump adviser tied to Hungarian Guarda". Vanity Fair. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
125. "Hungarian Guard ban does not violate freedom of assembly, says Strasbourg court". Politics.hu. December 11, 2013. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
126. "Sebastian Gorka Supported Anti-Semitic Hungarian Militia". The Daily Beast. April 3, 2017.
127. "About ITDIS". ITDIS.org. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
128. Bayer, Lili (March 15, 2017). "How Sebastian Gorka Catapulted From Far-Right Obscurity In Hungary to the White House". The Forward. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
129. Emmons, Alex; Fang, Lee (November 30, 2016). "Anti-Muslim Activist Katharine Gorka Named to Homeland Security Transition Team". The Intercept. New York City: First Look Media. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
130. Bender, Bryan & Crowley, Michael (February 13, 2017). "The husband-and-wife team driving Trump's national security policy". Politico. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
131. Clifton, Eli (August 15, 2017). "Sebastian Gorka's Long History of Denying the Right Wing Terrorism Threat". Lobe Log. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
132. Quinn, Melissa (August 15, 2017). "Trump aide Katharine Gorka urged DHS to pull grant for group fighting white supremacy: Report". Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
133. Gerstein, Josh (February 3, 2017). "Judge dismisses weapons charge against White House aide". Politico.
134. Brown, Hayes (January 18, 2018). "Hungarian Police Have A Warrant Out For Former Trump Adviser Sebastian Gorka". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
135. Márk, Herczeg (January 18, 2018). "Szijjártó úgy találkozott Gorka Sebestyénnel Washingtonban, hogy a férfit itthon elfogatóparancs alapján körözik". 444 (in Hungarian).
136. Maza, Cristina (January 18, 2018). "Trump employed Sebastian Gorka while his former adviser was wanted on gun charges in Hungary". Newsweek.
137. Noack, Rick (February 12, 2018). "Hungary No Longer Wants to Arrest Former White House Aide Gorka, but Mystery Lingers". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• America First with Sebastian Gorka

• 1970 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American male writers
• 21st-century American non-fiction writers
• Alumni of Heythrop College
• American counter-jihad activists
• American critics of Islam
• American male non-fiction writers
• American nationalists
• American people of Hungarian descent
• Breitbart News people
• British emigrants to Hungary
• British emigrants to the United States
• British people of Hungarian descent
• Corvinus University of Budapest alumni
• Counterterrorism in the United States
• Counterterrorism theorists
• Fox News people
• McCourt School of Public Policy faculty
• National Defense University faculty
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• Newsmax TV people
• People educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing
• Right-wing populists in the United States
• Salem Media Group people
• Second Trump administration personnel
• The Institute of World Politics faculty
• First Trump administration personnel